John Ashcroft told the nation about a month ago that the U.S. is facing a new, serious threat from al Queda.
“Credible intelligence from multiple sources indicates that al Qaeda plans to attempt an attack on the United States in the next few months,” Ashcroft said. “This disturbing intelligence indicates al Qaeda’s specific intention to hit the United States hard.”
Ashcroft added that preparations for an attack inside the U.S. are 90 percent complete. In other words, the threat he described is imminent — the terrorists are almost ready to strike.
To help prevent said attacks, Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller explained that the FBI would initiate a massive set of interviews nationwide to identify potential terrorists. How’s the initiative going? Not very well — they haven’t started yet.
Preparations for the attack were 90% complete, U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft said at the time. Preparations for the interviews are another story. It’s already July, and the FBI is still weeks away from launching the initiative, law enforcement officials confirm.
I feel safer already.
To help explain the delay, the Justice Deparment explained it is exercizing great caution.
An FBI official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says the delay shows that FBI officials are being meticulous in deciding whom they want to interview. A similar effort that focused on Muslim neighborhoods before the war in Iraq last year drew complaints of racial profiling.
While I’m delighted to see Ashcroft’s Justice Department take such care with civil liberties, the fact that the massive set of interviews hasn’t even started yet is just the latest in a series of missteps that suggest Ashcroft’s May 26 “warning” was a political charade designed to scare the public.
In fact, since Ashcroft held that press conference to emphasize the imminent terrorist threat, every new piece of information suggests the Attorney General’s warning was based on very little.
* An unnamed administration official told the New York Times, “There’s no real new intelligence, and a lot of this has been out there already.”
* Ashcroft admitted that neither he nor Mueller had met with Tom Ridge, the head of homeland security, to discuss the latest intelligence about the alleged imminent threat.
* Just 48 hours before Ashcroft’s announcement about new intelligence pointing to an imminent attack, officials at the Department of Homeland Security said they had no new intelligence pointing to the threat of an attack.
* Under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and Bush administration rules, only the Department of Homeland Security can publicly issue threat warnings, and they must be approved in a complex interagency process involving the White House. On May 26, Ashcroft decided to circumvent the process, because, well, he apparently felt like it.
And today we learn that the interviews that were going to help stop the terrorists haven’t even started yet.
“You have got to build a foundation,” [an anonymous FBI] official said. “There is something very specific we are looking for. You do not want to go out willy-nilly.”
Yes, but apparently they don’t want to go out at all.
Given what we now know, does anyone seriously believe that Ashcroft was honest about the threat? And if not, why does he still have his job?